Orthopedic cervical brace



Dec. 21, 1965 R. c. BLAIR, JR 3,224,439

ORTHOPEDIC CERVI CAL BRACE Filed March 28, 1963 United States Patent 3,224,439 ORTHOPEDIC CERVICAL BRACE Robert C. Blair, .lr., R0. Box 148, Daytona Beach, Fla. Filed Mar. 28, 1963, Ser. No. 268,621 7 Claims. (Cl. 128-75) This invention has to do with orthopedic braces, and more particularly to cervical braces intended to support and immobilize the head of a human patient.

It is a principal object of the invention to provide a brace of this character which can be adjusted and properly fitted to the patient without requiring the services of an expert in the fitting of orthopedic appliances. In this connection, it must be borne in mind that in many instances of cervical injury the patient is ambulatory. This is also true of many patients who are convalescing from conditions which may have required hospitalization and the use of the various forms of traction apparatus, halters and the like known to those skilled in this art. In the cases with which the present invention is most directly concerned, it would be very desirable for the patient to be provided with a cervical brace which can be applied, removed, and even adjusted either by himself, his orthopedist, or other professional personnel.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a brace of this character which is mechanically simple and of relatively low cost, thus enabling the orthopedist to recommend its use in many cases in which the complexity or higher cost of known braces would make their utilization diflicult.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide an appliance of this type, all of whose major components are readily removable from one another, so that they can be laundered or individually replaced without the necessity and attendant difliculty in satisfactorily cleaning the rather intricate constructions of the prior art. This feature, again, contributes to the aim of providing a satisfactory appliance at minimum cost.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus of this kind having considerable flexibility of adjustment, both as to fitting a variety of patients having somewhat diiferent anatomical dimensions, and as to the selection of a desired angular position of the head and the relative degree of tractive force which is desired.

Briefly, the invention achieves the foregoing and other objects, by a construction which comprises a flexible shoulder harness of generally U-shape, adapted to rest upon the shoulders about the neck, with its bifurcate ends lying upon the sternum, and thus providing straps which merge posteriorily of the neck and are there joined by a depending tab portion. A one-piece bracing frame is formed to provide essentially four legs, two of which are removably supported by fastening and adjustment devices carried by the ends of the sternal straps. The other two legs of the support extend upwardly from a common bail portion which is likewise removably held in an adjusted position by a connection secured to the depending tab of the harness. The four legs so secured are bent so as form laterally and upwardly diverging loops which will be spaced about the upper extremity of the patients neck, and between opposite pairs of such loops are mounted respective chin and occiput supporting pads.

The invention will now be described in considerable detail in connection with a presently preferred embodiment thereof, shown by way of illustration and not for purposes of limitation, in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the cervical brace as applied to a patient.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view, to a larger scale, of the brace with certain portions broken away for clarity; this view being oriented to agree with FIG. 1.

Patented Dec. 21, 1965 FIG. 3 is a view from the rear of FIG. 1, also in perspective, and showing in detail the construction of parts not visible therein.

The shoulder harness is of generally U-shape, providing the spaced straps 10 and 12 of FIG. 1, which lie over the patients shoulders with their ends resting upon the sternum. These straps merge together upon the upper back of the patient and, at their junction, are provided with the depending tab 14. The harness will normally be constructed of rubber, soft leather, or the like, so as to conform comfortably to the patients shoulders, but without permitting any substantial stretching of the straps. The harness may be reinforced with a layer of washable plastic fabric or the like, usually stitched in place.

At the forward end of each of the straps 10 and 12 there is secured a semi-flexible block 16 of leather or other suitable material, both elongated in a vertical direction and provided with transverse holes 18 to provide a selective or adjustable position for the respective terminal bends 20 of the supporting frame to be described. The ends 20 of the frame can readily be removed from the connectors 16 by squeezing the frame legs towards one another; in use, the resiliency of the frame will maintain these terminals securely in place in the connectors.

As best shown in FIG. 3, two other depending legs of the frame are connected by an integral transverse (horizontal bail portion 22 which is adjustably secured in a connector 24. All of the connectors such as 16 and 24 are made of the same material, and are riveted to the underlying harness as at 26 in FIG. 3. Connector block 24 in FIG. 3 is, like the others, provided with a plurality of transverse holes. However, the block 24 is additionally provided with a plurality of transverse slits 28 on its upper surface, so that by flexing the block, a desired slit may be opened up to allow the bail portion 22 to be slipped into the selected hole. The return of the connector block 24 to its essentially flat form, which it will preserve while the appliance is being worn, will hold the bail portion 22 firmly in position, both horizontally and vertically.

The supporting frame itself is best shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings, and since it is symmetrical about a central vertical fore-and-aft plane passing'through the patients body, only one-half need be described in detail. Thus, the bent end portion 20 already described merges into an upwardly extending support 30 which is bent forwardly at 32 and then reversely looped at 34 in the same vertical plane to provide a hairpin configuration about which may be slipped one end pocket of the chin support 36. Portion 34 merges into an upwardly concave bend 38 that will pass below the patients ear, and then extend upwardly and rearwardly to form a second hairpin loop 40 over which may be slipped an end pocket of the occiput support 42.

From loop 40, the frame extends vertically downward as at 44 for a distance, and then turns towards the median plane of symmetry as at 46, ultimately joining the bail portion 22. It will be seen that while the support frame is in effect a four-legged one, the rear legs merge to a common support point at the bail 22. The opposite ends of the chin and occiput support pads 36 and 42 are, of course, provided with pockets to slip over the hairpin configurations provided by the identical (but opposite) side of the frame.

The forward ends of the straps 10 and 12 may be provided with integral lug configurations as at 48, for the connection of a sternal strap if such is deemed desirable.

The frame as a whole is perferably formed by bending a single length of rigid wire or rod stock; stainless steel stock having a diameter of about 4 millimeters has been found to be quite suitable. The chin and occiput supports may be formed of leatherette, suitably padded and provided with sewn end pockets, or they may be formed of foam rubber or equivalent material. It will be observed that the degree of inclination of the patients head can be adjusted by moving the rear bail portion from hole to hole in connector block 24, relative to the positions oc cupied by the front frame terminals 20. A degree of adjustment to difierent neck lengths, or of the tractive force, is similarly possible. Predominant traction at the right or left side of the neck can be obtained byinserting the forward terminals in their connectors at different heights. Where necessary, further adjustment of the frame can be performed by local bending of its principal leg portions.

While the particular embodiment shown herein has been described in considerable detail, the invention itself is not intended to be limited thereby, as various changes and modifications will occur to those skilled in this art. The scope of the invention is therefore to be taken as defined by the language of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A cervical orthopedic brace comprising an occiput sling, a chin sling, and a one-piece length of wire or the like having its mid-portion bent to define a rectangular bail and leg portions extending upwardly therefrom; said leg portions terminating in respective first hairpin loops respectively carrying the ends of the occiput sling; said hairpin loops merging into respective upwardly concave arcs terminating in respective second hairpin loops respectively carrying the ends of the chin sling; the lastnamed loops merging into respective downwardly extending support legs having angled terminals; and means for supporting said terminals on the sternum of a patient and for supporting said bail on the upper back of said patient, in which said means comprises a flexible U- shaped neck-embracing strap having, on its spaced ends, fittings to receive said respective terminals, and a fitting on its junction region to receive said bail.

2. A cervical brace in accordance with claim 1, in which said fittings are respective connector blocks bored transversely to receive said terminals and said bail.

3. A cervical brace in accordance with claim 2, in which the connector block on said junction region has a plurality of transverse bores, said block being transversely slitted to provide entrance of said bail into a selected one of said bores.

4. A cervical orthopedic brace comprising an occiput sling, a chin sling, and a one-piece length of wire or the like having its mid-portion bent to define a rectangular bail and leg portions extending upwardly therefrom; said leg portions terminating in respective first projections carrying the respective ends of the occiput sling; said projections merging into respective upwardly concave arcs terminating in respective second projections carrying the respective ends of the chin sling; the last-named projections merging into respective downwardly extending support legs having angled terminals; multi-apertured block means for receiving and supporting said terminals on the sternum of a patient, and means for supporting said bail on the upper back of said patient.

5. A cervical brace in accordance with claim 4, in which said ends of said slings are removably attached to the associated projections.

6. A cervical orthopedic brace comprising an occiput sling, a chin sling, and a one-piece length of wire or the like having its mid-portion bent to define a rectanular bail and leg portions extending upwardly therefrom; said leg portions terminating in respective first projections carrying the respective ends of the occiput sling; said projections merging into respective upwardly concave arcs terminating in respective second projections carrying the respective ends of the chin sling; the lastnamed projections merging into respective downwardly extending support legs having angled terminals; mulitapertured block means for receiving and supporting said terminals in vertically-adjustable positions on the sternum of a patient, and means for supporting said bail in a vertically-adjustable position on the upper back of said patient.

7.. A cervical orthopedic brace comprising spaced-apart wire-like elements each having a generally intermediate, upwardly-concave arcuate portion merging into respective forward and rearward sling-supporting formations and thence merging from said projections downwardly into respective forward and rearward leg portions; means for supporting said elements symmetrically on opposite sides of a vertical median plane passing through the neck of a patient, with the positions of all of said leg portions being vertically adjustable with reference to the shoulders of said patient; and respective chin-supporting and occiputsupporting slings extending between, and carried by, the corresponding oppositely-disposed forward and rearward pairs of said formations.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,508,892 9/1924 Mikalsen. 1,837,406 12/ 193 1 Campbell. 2,102,069 12/1937 Hanicke l2887 2,692,595 10/1954 Blair l2887 RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner. 

1. A VERVICAL ORTHOPEDIC BRACE COMPRISING AN OCCIPUT SLING, A CHIN SLING, AND A ONE-PIECE LENGTH OF WIRE OR THE LIKE HAVING ITS MID-PORTION BENT TO DEFINE A RECTANGULAR BAIL AND LEG PORTIONS EXTENDING UPWARDLY THEREFROM; SAID LEG PORTIONS TERMINATING IN RESPECTIVE FIRST HAIRPIN LOOPS RESPECTIVELY CARRYING THE ENDS OF THE OCCIPUT SLING; SAID HAIRPIN LOOPS MERGING INTO RESPECTIVE UPWARDLY CONCAVE ARCS TERMINATING IN RESPECTIVE SECOND HAIRPIN LOOPS RESPECTIVELY CARRYING THE ENDS OF THE CHIN SLING; THE LASTNAMED LOOPS MERGING INTO RESPECTIVE DOWNWARDLY EXTENDING SUPPORT LEGS HAVING ANGLED TERMINALS; AND MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID TERMINALS ON THE STERNUM OF A PATIENT AND FOR SUPPORTING SAID BAIL ON THE UPPER BACK OF SAID PATIENT, IN WHICH SAID MEANS COMPRISES A FLEXIBLE USHAPED NECK-EMBRACING STRAP HAVING, ON ITS SPACED ENDS, FITTINGS TO RECEIVE SAID RESPECTIVE TERMINALS, AND A FITTING ON ITS JUNCTION REGION TO RECEIVE SAID BAIL. 